Oscars 2026: Award winners versus our (actually pretty good) predictions

The score is in

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A picture of an Oscars statuette.
(Image credit: Academy Awards)

The Oscars 2026 awards results are out. And this year there were no major controversies during the ceremony, for once.

No Hollywood actors slapping other actors. No-one falling off the stage, or randos rushing onto it to make one political statement or another.

What made the headlines? Conan O’Brien jabbing at Timothée Chalamet’s philistine comments doing down opera and ballet from the other week. Pretty tame stuff all-around, and Chalamet also got snubbed in the Best Actor category. Karma.

Bad night for Timmy. But the rest of it went without a hitch. One Battle After Another was the biggest Oscars winner, coming away with six categories. But last week we made our own predictions about who would win each of the main awards:

So rather than just reeling off the winners, let’s see how we did. Is the Shortlist team galaxy-brained or are our craniums smooth as 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton? Green image for a win, red for a miss!

Best Picture

One Battle After Another poster.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Winner: One Battle After Another

Our prediction: One Battle After Another

Best Director

One Battle After Another screengrab.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Our prediction: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Best Actor

Michael B Jordan in Sinners.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Winner: Michael B Jordan (Sinners)

Our Prediction: Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet.

(Image credit: Amblin)

Winner: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Our Prediction: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Best Supporting Actor

Sean Penn in One Battle After Another.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Winner: Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Our Prediction: Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Madigan in Weapons

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Winner: Amy Madigan (Weapons)

Our Prediction: COP OUT (Wunmi Mosaku, Teyana Taylor split prediction)

Best Original Screenplay

Ryan Coogler directing Sinners on set.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Winner: Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

Our Prediction: Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

Best Adapted Screenplay

One Battle After Another poster.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Our Prediction: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Best International Feature

Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value.

(Image credit: Mubi)

Winner: Sentimental Value

Our Prediction: The Secret Agent

Best Animated Feature

KPop Demon Hunters still.

(Image credit: Netflix)

Winner: KPop Demon Hunters

Our Prediction: KPop Demon Hunters

Best Visual Effects

A character from Avatar: Fire and Ash

(Image credit: 20th Century)

Winner: Avatar: Fire and Ash

Our Prediction: Avatar: Fire and Ash

Best Original Score

Sinners poster.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Winner: Ludwig Göransson (Sinners)

Our Prediction: Ludwig Göransson (Sinners)

How did we do?

Score 9/12

OK, so we're not exactly a set of cinematic Nostradamuses... Nostradami? But we could have at least done worse with our predictions this year. How did you do?

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Andrew Williams
Andrew Williams
Contributor

Andrew Williams has written about all sorts of stuff for more than a decade — from tech and fitness to entertainment and fashion. He has written for a stack of magazines and websites including Wired, TrustedReviews, TechRadar and Stuff, enjoys going to gigs and painting in his spare time. He's also suspiciously good at poker.

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